🌿 Folk Prescriptions

Food accumulation is one of the most common pediatric conditions. It can cause symptoms such as chest tightness, abdominal distension, abdominal pain, and loss of appetite. If untreated, it may impair children’s growth and development. Tuina therapy for food accumulation has high efficacy and is worth widespread application.
Etiology and Pathogenesis
1. Dietary Injury: Caused by irregular feeding, improper diet, or overconsumption of rich, greasy foods, leading to spleen and stomach damage, impaired digestion, disrupted ascending and descending functions, and stagnation of food and milk in the gastrointestinal tract.
2. Stomach Yang Deficiency: When stomach yang is strong, food passes through easily. But when stomach yang is deficient, food intake leads to bloating and stagnation. Consuming cold raw foods easily damages the stomach.
3. Spleen Yang Deficiency: When spleen yang is deficient, food fails to digest properly, remains stagnant, and causes epigastric fullness and abdominal distension.
Clinical Manifestations
Epigastric fullness and oppression, belching with sour odor, foul-smelling stools, strong-smelling flatus, poor appetite or significantly reduced hunger; some children may develop anorexia, abdominal pain, or crying.
Tuina Treatment
Food accumulation should be understood as a “syndrome.” Numerous causes exist, but in clinical practice, the exact cause is often hard to identify, referred to as “primary food accumulation.” When a cause is identified, it is termed “secondary food accumulation.” Some secondary cases can be treated with tuina, while others cannot. Therefore, tuina is primarily suitable for primary food accumulation. For primary cases, different types require different techniques.
1. Food Accumulation with Cold Pattern
Therapeutic Principle: Warm the center, strengthen the spleen, and eliminate food stagnation.
Techniques: Pushing, kneading, palm rubbing, and circular rubbing.
Acupoints and Areas: Spleen Earth Point, Wanyang Point, San Guan Point, Ba Shi Point, Zusanli Point, umbilicus, and surrounding abdominal area.
Operational Methods and Requirements:
① Tonifying the Spleen Earth Point: There are two methods. One is using finger rubbing on the Spleen Earth Point; the other is bending the child’s thumb at the interphalangeal joint and pushing from the distal end toward the proximal end along the radial side of the thumb. Choose either method and perform 300 strokes.
② Separating and Pushing: Have the child’s palm facing up. The practitioner uses the index, middle, ring, and little fingers of both hands to support the child’s hand from the dorsal sides of the wrist and hand. Using both thumbs, push simultaneously from the midpoint of the transverse crease of the wrist to the radial and ulnar sides of the wrist crease, about 100 times.
③ Pushing the San Guan Point: Since this treats “food accumulation with cold,” push the San Guan Point more frequently—about 600 times.
④ Transporting the Ba Shi Point: Have the child’s palm facing up. The practitioner uses the distal palmar surface of one finger to perform finger rubbing on the Ba Shi Point, known as “transporting the Ba Shi Point,” for about 300 times.
⑤ Separating and Pushing the Abdominal Yin-Yang Points: Have the child lie supine. The practitioner uses the fingers of both hands (usually the thumbs, but also index and middle fingers) to push separately from the lower end of the sternum along the costal arches to the mid-axillary lines on both sides, about 200 times.
⑥ Kneading and Rubbing the Umbilical Region: Have the child lie supine. The practitioner uses one palm to perform palm rubbing on the umbilicus and surrounding area for several minutes, then applies palm kneading or palm root kneading to the umbilicus and abdomen, creating a strong warming sensation.
2. Food Accumulation with Heat Pattern
Therapeutic Principle: Clear heat, strengthen the spleen, and eliminate food stagnation.
Techniques: Pushing, finger kneading, palm rubbing, and palm kneading.
Acupoints and Areas: Spleen Earth Point, Wanyang Point, San Guan Point, Liu Fu Point, Si Heng Wen Point, Wai Lao Gong Point, Abdominal Yin-Yang Points, Zusanli Point.
Operational Methods and Requirements:
① Clearing the Spleen Earth Point: Have the child’s palm facing up. The practitioner uses finger pushing, moving from the proximal end of the thumb to the distal end, known as “clearing the Spleen Earth Point,” for 300 times.
② Tonifying the Spleen Earth Point: First apply the “clearing” method, then immediately follow with the “tonifying” method—known as “clear first, then tonify.” This approach is commonly used for food accumulation with heat.
③ Separating and Pushing the Wanyang Point: About 100 times.
④ Pushing the San Guan Point: About 200 times.
⑤ Retreating the Liu Fu Point: About 600 times. The number of retreating strokes should exceed that of pushing, since this is for “food accumulation with heat.”
⑥ Pushing the Si Heng Wen Point: The Si Heng Wen Point refers to four different locations collectively. Here, it refers to the transverse creases on the palmar side of the metacarpophalangeal joints of the index, middle, ring, and little fingers. The practitioner uses pushing technique sequentially on each site for several minutes.
⑦ Kneading the Wai Lao Gong Point: The Wai Lao Gong Point corresponds directly to the Laogong point on the palm. The practitioner performs finger kneading in a clockwise direction for dozens of strokes.